


where we will, we'll roam

by Origamidragons



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Best Friends, Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Fix-It, Gen, Kuina (One Piece) Lives, Running Away, Sexism, now with some
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:49:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21615613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Origamidragons/pseuds/Origamidragons
Summary: When he stepped into her room, she was bent over her bed, packing a bag, her movements sharp and angry, all barely-contained violence. He wondered if she’d be an even better duelist, like this, with rage burning in her veins.She didn’t look up at him, didn’t acknowledge him at all for a moment or two. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it, and waited.“I’m leaving,” she finally said, the words bitten-off and raw. She still didn’t look up at him.(A series of one-shots set in an AU where Kuina lives and becomes a bounty hunter together with her best friend, and then, without really meaning to, becomes a pirate.)
Relationships: Kuina & Roronoa Zoro
Comments: 41
Kudos: 396
Collections: Real Good Shit, oc self insertSI





	1. is it really running away from home if you bring home with you

Zoro was in his room after supper, running through his katas with slow, meditative movements, when he heard the door next to his slam.

The room next to his was Kuina’s.

Kuina never slammed her door.

It wasn’t her nature, to do something like that. She wasn’t a loud person. There was nothing impulsive about her- violent, yes, as violent as any good swordsman ought to be, but it was a violence that was tempered and controlled into smooth steel, never lashing out, but focused and deliberate in every move she made.

Kuina didn’t get angry. She got sad. Zoro _wished_ she would get angry, that she would stoke the fire in her chest with the world’s criticism instead of letting it ooze, slow and malignant, into her heart and mind, that ugly little cancer that made her doubt herself.

Zoro _hated_ that ugly sickness of doubt inside of her. He liked the enemies that he could kill.

So Kuina’s door slammed, hard, and Zoro knew before the shudders had even stopped running through the frame that something was wrong.

When he stepped into her room, she was bent over her bed, packing a bag, her movements sharp and angry, all barely-contained violence. He wondered if she’d be an even better duelist, like this, with rage burning in her veins.

She didn’t look up at him, didn’t acknowledge him for a moment or two. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it, and waited.

“I’m leaving,” she finally said, the words bitten-off and raw. She still didn’t look up at him.

When he didn’t respond, she paused, and sighed, frantic movements slowing slightly. She suddenly looked tired, he thought, and older than her just-sixteen years.

“I had a fight with my father,” she said, staring down into the half-packed bag. “It was… a bad one. Since… I’ll be of age in a couple years. He believes it’s time to start… searching for a husband for me.”

She muttered the last few words out through clenched teeth, as though they tasted rotten on her tongue.

“He’s already been loading me down with all these chores to cut into my training time, I _know_ that’s what he’s doing, he wants to force me to _give up_,” she snarled, her voice starting to go thick with frustrated tears.

(Zoro knew all that already, of course. He’d been the one to help her work through the daily load of ever-increasing chores so they could fight, already sweaty and exhausted, at the end of every day.)

“And now he wants me to stop training altogether so I can start focusing on learning how to be a _proper wife_. So. I’m leaving.”

She snapped it out like a challenge, as though she thought Zoro would try to stop her. As though he ever would have wanted to. As though he _could_ even if he _did_ want to.

“Okay,” Zoro said. “When are we going?”

She finally looked up at him, blinking tears out of her eyes, looking confused. “What?”

“When are we going?” Zoro repeated. He tilted his head slightly and considered for a moment. “I can be packed in ten minutes.”

She blinked again. “You… want to come with me?”

“Obviously,” Zoro said, because it was. Of course wherever she went, he’d follow. She was the only reason he'd stayed here so long in the first place. “I still haven’t beaten you yet.”

(And besides, she was his best friend.)

“But once I’m gone, you’ll be the senior pupil,” she said quietly. “Pride of the dojo.” _Pride of my father_, she didn't say, but he heard it anyways. _The pride that should have been mine._

As if he cared about that.

“So?” Zoro said. “I don’t care. You’re the only one here worth anything. What’s the point in me staying if you’re not here to challenge me? Especially if you’re going to be traveling. If you _leave_ and I stay here and stagnate, I’ll never catch up to you.”

She stared at him for a long, long moment, her dark eyes staring right through him. Then she nodded once, decisive, and hooked Wado Ichimonji’s white scabbard onto her belt.

“Twenty minutes,” she said. “Outside. Don't be late.”

As promised, packing took him less than ten. He spent the rest of the time writing a note for Koushiro, feeling at least somewhat obligated to thank the man after all his teaching and hospitality (even if his daughter had taught Zoro more than he ever had).

In the end, the note was terse. A thanks, the briefest of explanations. A promise that Kuina would be safe.

(That she would be safe, not that he would protect her. She would kick his ass if he so much as implied she needed him to look after her.)

She was already waiting outside when he stepped out of the door with bag slung over one shoulder and three swords at his hip, and he wondered for a moment whether the extra time was to give him time to reconsider.

“Ready?” he asked, even though he knew the answer.

“Ready,” she said, and smiled, that confident smirk of hers that had been so rare lately. The one that said _I’m better than you, and I know it._ Zoro had hated that smirk, once, but over months and years, as her father’s words had crept into her mind and clawed at her confidence, it had become less and less common.

It was a relief to see it again, dagger-sharp in the moonlight.

“So,” she said, “there’s a ship leaving in half an hour. Where do you want to go?”

They had the whole ocean ahead of them, Zoro thought.

“Hear there’s a good sword shop in Loguetown,” he said.

Kuina raised her eyebrows and snorted as she started along the path to the town harbor, Zoro falling into easy step beside her. “What do you need _more_ swords for? Don’t tell me you’re going to start trying for four-sword style.”

“Shut up,” Zoro said. “I just need some decent swords to replace my old dojo ones. Not all of us have family heirlooms.” He paused as a thought occurred to him, glancing at the white scabbard hanging at her side. “Oi, will your old man be mad you took it?”

Kuina’s lips tightened into a thin line, and one of her hands shifted to rest protectively on Wado’s hilt. “He’s already denying me the rest of my birthright. He owes me this much, at least.”

Zoro nodded, conceding the point.

“But he _will_ be angry,” Kuina admitted after a moment, looking somewhat pleased about it. “Which is why we’re taking the first ferry off the island. Once we get to Loguetown, we can check the latest bounties and… see where to go next. Sound good?”

The two of them, swords in hand, against the rest of the world, hunting down pirates and criminals. Chasing each other to the top, to that coveted position they both craved. The ocean ahead of them, vast and blue and full of possibility, and the whole world to wander.

“Yeah,” Zoro said, and grinned. “Sounds good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its homophobia that kuina and zoro didn't get to grow up to be the scariest bounty hunter duo in the east blue and also peak wlw/mlm solidarity so i'm remedying that. 
> 
> the first time sanji tries to flirt with kuina she throws him off the ship. zoro laughs his ass off.
> 
> anyways this is marked as complete but i might write more drabbles in this little canon divergent au just cause it's fun and, like, extremely self-indulgent. 
> 
> title is from [hoist the colors](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EyM2jcBTW0).


	2. starvation (and other fun things to do with your best friend)

“Kuina,” Zoro rasped, his voice dry and cracking, scratching painfully in his throat, “go _eat_.”

The sun beat down mercilessly on the open courtyard. The sky was wide and blue, not a hint of cloud or hope of shade in sight. The ropes bit and chafed at his arms, digging into the flesh and raising painful welts with their constant rubbing. His bandana provided some modicum of protection from the sun, but it was rough against his forehead, stiff with grime.

Kuina was sitting in the dirt in front of him, her legs tucked neatly under her, eyes fixed on the ground. Her short hair was matted down with sweat, her hands tightly clasped together. 

“Not if you won’t,” she said, her eyes fixed on the ground. Her voice was quiet but firm, and the tremor of weakness in it was barely audible. 

“I _can’t_,” he gritted out. “That’s the _deal_.” 

“It’s not a _deal_, it’s _torture_, and you know it!” she snapped, jerking her head up to glare at him. Her face was too thin, cheekbones hollow from her self-imposed fast, magnifying the anger in her dark eyes. “This isn’t right!” 

“I don’t have any other choice!” 

“You could let me cut you down!” 

“Then we’d both be wanted!”

“Wanted and _alive_!” 

“I’m not going to _die_, Kuina!” Zoro snapped, his voice clawing at his throat. God, he was so fucking thirsty. Usually the stupid kid with the ugly haircut let Kuina give him some water when he came out to laugh at them around midday, but the sun had hit its zenith already and there was no sign of the stupid stuck-up brat. 

“Then neither am I,” Kuina said, her voice infuriatingly level. “If you can survive this, then I will too.”

What he hated was that she was right. Her logic made sense, in a stupid, self-sacrificial kind of way that he knew well because he did the same goddamn thing. She was just as strong as he was. If he could survive something, she certainly could too.

“You don’t _have_ to,” he said, but it sounded weak even to his ears. 

“I do,” she said, simple and unyielding as stone.

It wasn’t the first time they’d had this argument. It wasn’t even the tenth. He’d lost count, as the days had crawled past, agonizingly slowly, week after week, how many times they’d run this same track. He told her to leave, she refused, she told him to let her cut him down, he refused, and around and around and around they went. 

They’d always been able to match each other in stubbornness.

He groaned, his parched and battered throat warping the sound into something tortured, and leaned his head back against the post, the sun glaring into his eyes. “I can’t wait to get out of this fucking town.”

Kuina made a noise of tired agreement. “Tell me about it. This whole place is rotten,” she muttered, twisting to glare up at the towering marine base with a scowl. At the building’s peak, a few ropes and tarps fluttered in the sea wind, signs of the ongoing construction of Morgan’s opulent self-dedicated statue. 

Watching her profile, he could see her features twist in disgust. “If only Morgan was a pirate,” she said. “Then we could just take his ugly head for the bounty and be done with it.” 

“He’s worse than, if you ask me,” Zoro rasped. “At least pirates are honest about being scum.”

Kuina made a sound that could almost have been a laugh. “If that son of his implies I’m your _groupie_ one more time, I’m going to kill him and hell with the consequences.” 

“There’s a show I’d pay to see,” Zoro muttered, almost smiling. “Though if that motherfucker’s done anything to my swords, you’ll have to race me for him.”

She half-smiled back, vindictive. “At least we know he hasn’t touched Kitetsu.”

“Yeah?” 

“He’s still got all his fingers, last I saw.” 

Zoro barked out a laugh, a raw and scratchy sound. “Good point.” Even Kuina didn’t like touching Kitetsu unless she had to, and the sword _respected_ her. If the worthless brat with the stupid hair bared so much of an inch of its steel, the sword would taste blood, he was sure.

She glanced up suddenly, head snapping over to stare at the fence that lined the courtyard, eyes narrowing. Zoro tried to twist his head to follow her line of sight, but by the time he could get his muscles to cooperate, there was nothing there to see.

“What?” he asked.

“I heard some people talking,” Kuina answered, not looking away. “Thought I saw someone looking over the wall, too…”

“Probably just some stupid kids from the village come to gawk,” Zoro muttered. He tried to shrug, but his aching shoulders screamed in protest, and he slumped back against the cross. God, it was going to take fucking forever to get back into proper shape after this. “Not everyday you get to see a pirate hunter tied up.”

The telltale sound of the gate creaking open reached his ears a moment later, and he sighed, glaring at the dirt. Must be the dumbass, come to gloat yet again-

“Zoro-nii! Kuina-nee! I brought you some food!” 

Zoro’s head shot up. _Hell_. 

Rika, an armful of clumsily-made rice balls tucked close to her chest, was scurrying across the sun-baked courtyard, nearly stumbling over her own feet in her haste. Kuina was already standing, moving to intercept her- good. She was better with kids than he was. 

“Rika,” she said, voice firm and steady despite her current weakness. She knelt down and rested her hands on the little girl’s shoulders. “You need to _go home_.” 

“I will! I will!” Rika promised, worrying her lip with her teeth before holding out the bundle of food in her hands. Just looking at the fresh white rice made Zoro’s stomach feel like it was trying to digest itself. “Just- take these! Please! I made them myself!” 

“You know we can’t,” Kuina said, her voice still even despite the minuscule tremble of weakness in her hands. “They could kill you for helping him.”

“It’s not- I’m not!” Rika protested. “I just- I don’t want you to die!”

Kuina smiled, and it barely looked strained at all. 

(She was always a better actor than him, ever since they were kids, her every move projecting a confidence she didn’t feel. It was real now, though, more often than not, and he was grateful for that. They called her the White Blade like they called him Pirate Hunter, and he saw her spine straighten with pride every time she heard the moniker.)

“We’re going to be fine, Rika,” she said. “We’re big strong swordsmen, right? You think people like us are going to let a little hunger do us in?”

“No… but…” Rika hesitated, her eyes sliding over Kuina’s shoulder to Zoro. He tried to manage as much of a smile as he could, though he was sure it came out more as a grimace. 

“We’re fine, kid,” he said, the broken rasp in his voice belying the lie in his words. “Get lost.”

“Well, well! What have we _here_?” a familiar voice trilled, gratingly condescending, and Zoro groaned aloud as the blonde-haired moron who was responsible for this whole mess ambled up to them. What was his name again? Hermy? Hippo? 

“Not anyone attempting to _help_ a convicted _criminal_, I hope?” he sneered, leaning down to leer mockingly at Rika, who glared defiantly up at him, hugging her onigiri close to her chest. 

“Helmeppo,” Kuina said, her voice cold, and oh, right, that was the name. She stood, resting a protective hand on Rika’s shoulder. She was taller than the blonde dumbass, Zoro was pleased to note. “Rika just came to visit us. She was just leaving.”

“That's Helmeppo-_sama_ to you,” Helmeppo said, and Zoro surreptitiously rolled his eyes as the brat shifted his attention to Kuina. “And you're still here too. How _loyal_ of you.”

Zoro was sure only a swordsman would have noticed the miniscule way Kuina’s free hand twitched at the words, longing for Wado’s hilt. It was probably good he was the one tied to the post, and not her. She'd always had better self-control than him, had had to develop it over years of biting her tongue against her father’s words. If his hands had been unbound, he wasn't sure if he'd have been able to resist eviscerating the brat already. 

“It's my duty to be here,” she said. Her voice had shifted from cold to arctic. “As I've said, as Zoro’s partner and senior his actions are my responsibility as well.” 

Helmeppo laughed. “Right, _right_,” he said, all but dripping with obliging condescension. Kuina’s hand twitched again, but Helmeppo clearly didn't notice, instead turning to look down at Rika once more. “Just visiting, eh? Then what's with those little treats you've got there? You know what the penalty for aiding criminals is… so they must be for _me_, right?” 

“No!” Rika yelled, trying to duck away- not quite fast enough to keep him from snatching one of the onigiri out of her arms and taking an exaggeratedly large bite. In the next moment, though, he was gagging, spitting out the white grains immediately. He threw the rice ball to the ground and scrubbed at his mouth furiously with his sleeve. 

“That's _disgusting_! What is that, _sugar_?” You're supposed to use _salt_, you little idiot! _Salt!_” he raved, grinding the rice ball into the dust with his heel. Zoro would have found it almost funny except for the tears welling up in Rika’s eyes… and the way his gut clenched in agony watching perfectly good rice get ruined, sugary or not.

Rika stuttered, fat tears rolling down her cheeks as sobs caught in her throat. “I- I just- I thought- sweet things always taste better- I just wanted-”

“Well, you _failed_,” Helmeppo spat. “That was the worst onigiri I’ve ever tasted. Guard!” he yelled at the nearer of the two marines who’d followed him into the courtyard. “Get her out of here! Throw her over the wall!” 

_Bastard_. That wall was six feet high, a little kid could easily break an arm or a leg coming down from that height. Zoro still remembered the bad fall Kuina had had down the stairs when they were younger, the one that had twisted her ankle and almost broken her neck. 

Zoro yanked against his bonds, snarling. “Don’t you dare, you _fu-_”

Kuina’s arm snapped out at her side, halting the guard in his tracks as though it was a brick wall that had appeared before him and not a single woman’s empty hand, flung out at chest-height. 

“That won’t be necessary, Helmeppo_-sama_,” she said, the sarcastic sting on the honorific sharp enough to cut before she softened her tone and smiled at Rika. “Run along home, now, Rika. I’m sure your mother’s worried.”

Rika hiccupped one more time, and ran. 

Helmeppo’s face twisted into an ugly scowl as he swung around to glare at Kuina, but she lifted her chin and looked down on him unflinchingly. Zoro saw his beady little eyes dart unsubtly to the hilt at her side, and grinned. 

“If she comes back here again I’m adding another week to his sentence,” he spat, and then turned on his heel and stormed off, his guards trailing behind him. One of the marines- the one who’d reluctantly stepped forward to punish Rika- glanced over his shoulder and gave them an apologetic look before the door slammed behind him. 

Silence fell over the courtyard again, the only sound the far-off cries of seagulls, as Zoro and Kuina stared together at the ruined pile of muddy rice.

“Share?” Kuina said after a long moment. 

“Yeah,” Zoro agreed. “Who gets the nori?” 

“_Janken_ for it?” she suggested, the slightest hint of laughter in her voice.

Zoro couldn't feel his hands, and she knew it. “Fuck you,” he said. 

She laughed, the sound weak but real, and set about dividing the ruined rice into two small piles. She gave him the nori. He didn’t call her on it. 

“Karma’ll catch up with them eventually,” Zoro said eventually, once they were both done eating their pitifully small portions, the taste of sugar and mud still coating his tongue. “The captain and his bastard son both.” 

Kuina cut a glance up at him. “Normally _we’re _the karma catching up,” she said. The underlying meaning was easy enough to read: _If _we_ can’t do anything about it, who can?_

Karma, as it turned out, chose that moment to poke his straw-hatted head up from behind the wall, grinning like sunshine, and shout, “_Hey! You guys should join my pirate crew!_”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so it turns out i'm definitely not done with this au verse, nobody is surprised. so have, uh, mostly several hundred words of sibling banter.
> 
> i'm not writing these in any sort of order by the way, this is set at the start of canon but i'll probably do at least one or two more pre-canon ones at some point (baroque works attempted recruitment, anyone?) and i have a lot of other ideas as well. i wanna get tashigi in on this at some point because there's just so much potential for humor there, plus at least one chapter set much later cause i had a v fun idea for who kuina could be with during the timeskip. 
> 
> a couple notes:  
\- nori is dried seaweed! its the little black stripe on an onigiri rice ball thats definitely the best part, its salty and delicious  
\- janken is the japanese term for rock-paper-scissors, and its used to settle pretty much every trivial disagreement in japan  
\- zoro got yubashiri and kitetsu the same way he did in canon, just earlier because he and kuina went to loguetown sooner  
\- kuina is a year older than zoro in canon which makes her 20 here, which makes her the straw-hats' cool big sister sorry i dont make the rules 
> 
> also since they join at the same time zoro and kuina never establish which of them is the first mate and it doesnt occur to them to question it until much later, at which point they start arguing over it and never ever stop. luffy is absolutely no help because he sees no reason why the pirate king can't have two first mates.
> 
> also!! this chapter was partly inspired by [this lovely art](https://codedredalert.tumblr.com/post/187980630768/if-kuina-was-still-alive-i-like-to-think-that) by codedredalert!
> 
> [come visit me on tumblr!](oriigami.tumblr.com)


	3. familiar faces (one in particular)

“Well, well,” the man behind the counter said with a grin. “Back again?” 

Zoro scoffed and slammed the broken-off hilt onto the counter. “Wouldn’t have to be if you could sell me a decent sword.” 

The man looked offended. “Hey, now, Yubashiri hasn’t failed you yet, has she?” 

“No,” Zoro conceded, as the man picked up the broken hilt to examine it. Then he smirked slightly and added, “Neither has Kitetsu, though it’s still a little... problematic.” 

The shopkeeper startled at the name, fingers tightening around the broken hilt in his hands, and cast an anxious glance to where the cursed sword was sheathed at Zoro’s side before clearing his throat. “Y-yes, well,” he muttered, regathering his composure. “What did you do to this one, anyways?” 

“There were pirates,” Zoro said vaguely, neglecting to mention that he had, technically, been one of them. That would raise a bunch of questions, and frankly he wasn’t in the mood. “You gonna sell me a replacement or not?”

The man waved a hand. “Of course, of course. I’ve still not got anything quite up to the standards of Yubashiri and- the other one, but have a look around, by all means.” 

Zoro nodded absently, already leaning down to examine the nearest rack of swords. They all seemed fine- sharp, strong, not particularly remarkable. He hefted a few in his hand, testing the balance. The two best seemed to be about the same- either would fit his needs just fine.

The bell over the door rang as he was deliberating, signaling the entrance of another customer, one he recognized immediately out of the corner of his eye. Kuina- huh, she usually didn’t come here with him when they were in town, satisfied as she was with Wado Ichimonji. 

He glanced up as she stepped up next to him, looking thoughtfully at the swords on display. She must have finished her shopping early, then. She’d wanted to go to the bookstore to look for books on Wano, if he remembered right. Well, good, she could help him out with his choice. 

“Hey,” he said to her, turning and holding up the two swords he couldn’t choose between. “Which d’you think?” 

She blinked a few times, looking startled, before pointing at her chest and saying, “Me?” 

“Who else?” Zoro asked. “I can’t decide between these two. Balance is right on both of ‘em.” 

She looked thoughtful for a second, then reached out and grabbed both hilts, unsheathing them with the smoothness of practice. 

“Hmmm,” she hummed. “Well, you’ve sure got an eye for blades. These are both fine workmanship. This one,” she held up the sword in her right hand, still examining it closely, “is a bit older, you can see the grip is more worn and the style of the scabbard decoration is, oh, I’d say at least a century older than this other one.” 

Zoro had never known Kuina was so into the nitty-gritty of sword lore. Huh.

Kuina delicately ran a thumb along one blade, feather-light. “This older one is a bit blunter, then, and it’s seen more wear and tear, but you can fix that with some dedication and a whetstone.” She nodded decisively, then resheathed the two swords. “Go with that one. It’s reliable.”

“Thanks,” Zoro said, eyebrows raised slightly in interest. He slid the other sword back into the rack and wandered back to the counter to pay. Kuina followed him, glancing idly around the shop with clear interest.

“So hey,” he said, while the shopkeeper was counting out his change, “what’s with the dork glasses, anyways?” 

Kuina blinked, looking at him askance. “I… need them to… see?” she said hesitantly. 

Zoro blinked. Looked at her again, properly this time. 

Thick, red-rimmed glasses. Eyes that were just a shade too blue. The hair was too long, too, and now that he thought about it, she’d been wearing her usual white tank top that morning, not some flower-patterned thing. And the sword that hung at her side had a plain black hilt, not Wado’s clean white. 

Zoro ran the entire preceding interaction through his head again. 

“You’re not Kuina,” he finally said. 

“No?” Not-Kuina agreed, sounding baffled. “I’m Ensign Tashigi. I'm stationed at the Loguetown marine base.” 

“...ah,” Zoro said, and glanced back at the exit. It wasn't widely known that he was a pirate yet, right? If this woman wasn't Kuina he felt sure he could take her, but he'd rather not make a mess in one of his favorite stores. 

Not-Kuina was still staring at him. “...Kuina? _White Blade_ Kuina? You thought I was a _bounty hunter_?”

“Uh,” Zoro said, but she continued without seeming to hear him.

“I’d _never_! Hunting down criminals just for a _paycheck_ instead of any sort of belief in proper justice- if you ask me, they're little better than pirates themselves!” she complained, voice rising. “And there's no checks on them at all! Did you know, I heard that White Blade and her partner, that Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro, were involved in the overthrow of a whole marine base at Shells Town?”

The man behind the counter opened his mouth. Zoro shot him a dangerous look out of the corner of his eye and rested one hand on Kitetsu’s sheath, and it snapped shut again immediately. 

“Mighta heard about it,” he allowed. 

“Honestly, those sorts of people… no respect for the art of swordsmanship! None!”

“Swords are tools,” Zoro said, hooking his new katana’s scabbard onto his belt. It felt good to have the weight of three blades there again, instead of two. “My opinion, anyone who respects his sword and his opponent is a swordsman. No matter what he does for pay.”

“Hmph. Well, I suppose that's one way to look at it,” she muttered, clearly disagreeing, before glancing down at a watch on her wrist and startling. “Ah! I need to get back to base!”

“I should go find my friends, too,” Zoro agreed. Luffy had probably gotten himself into something stupid by now. “Uh, thanks for the help,” he said after a moment, nodding down at the new sword at his side. 

“Oh! Of course! My pleasure,” she said, with a kind of bashful smile that Kuina would never, ever wear. “Anything for a fellow enthusiast!”

Zoro nodded, gave the shopkeeper one last sharp warning look just in case he thought he could make a quick buck by tipping the woman off to Zoro’s identity once he was gone, and then left without a backwards glance. 

He was going to need to ask Kuina if she had any cousins. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> technically kuina isn't even in this one but i got this idea in my head and literally needed to write it. 
> 
> this is not the last time this happens. any time zoro sees tashigi without her glasses on he mistakes her for kuina and interacts with her accordingly. tashigi is highly annoyed there's a pirate running around with her face. kuina is highly annoyed there's some marine woman trying to take her family's sword.
> 
> i'm @oriigami on tumblr, come say hi!


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